Temp worker housing, marijuana regulations on 2016 slate

By Katie Collins Brush News-Tribune Staff Writer

Posted:
01/05/2016 08:09:51 AM MST

Updated:
01/05/2016 08:10:23 AM MST

During the final regular Monday night session of 2015, the Brush City Council wrapped up loose ends and began setting sights on upcoming issues. As a new year approaches, so too do new regulations and for Brush this could include an unprecedented ordinance which would outline regulations surrounding temporary worker housing, as well as a re-visit to the old issue of the sale and growth of marijuana within city limits as the June 30 date for the expiration of the city’s moratorium approaches. Timeline onMarijuanaAs the City of Brush’s June 30 expiration date for the moratorium on the sale and growth of retail marijuana approaches, council members were advised of options to consider. “One important date in the timeline, the one that this all hinges on, is that of June 30, 2016,” Assistant City Administrator Karen Schminke stated during a post-meeting brainstorming session. “That’s when our current moratorium on the sale and growth of retail marijuana expires. We need to take some type of action to address the topic, and the timeline staff has provided to you gives a feel for the different steps needed to be taken and outlines options.” The trio of options includes taking the question to a vote and putting it to public vote on the November ballot, having council adopt an ordinance to prohibit the sale or having council adopt an ordinance to regulate the sale of the product.

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Because of the June deadline, and the time it takes to get an ordinance developed and adopted, council members were asked to give direction to staff by January, and has been tentatively slated as a work session topic to end the next January 11 meeting. Should the question of allowing retail marijuana sales and growth inside the city limits be put to a public vote, council made take actions that would extend the moratorium until the November election. City council was given the deadline of January 25 to make the decision. Temporary Worker HousingIn the wake of a request from the BrushCo Farms greenhouse, the City of Brush also is venturing into unprecedented territory as the City continues to attempt to outline details of ordinance that would set standards for temporary worker housing, for workers such as those employed by BrushCo Farms through the H2A program. A need to bring in temporary workers from outside the county, due to a lack of being able to find workers within, has prompted BrushCo Farms to request temporary housing to be built near their site in an industrial zoned area. The regulations currently being worked on make Brush the first city to set up such regulations in a formal ordinance, and as Brush Mayor Chuck Schonberger related at the council session, “It’s interesting to me that we are the first in Colorado to go down this road.” “The meat of this ordinance is really in the standards,” said planner Martin Landers who sat with Schminke to address council on the details of the proposed ordinance, complete with newly massaged regulations that were brought as a result of several discussions between City of Brush attorney Bo Chapin and BrushCo attorney Eric Jorgensen.In an effort to not duplicate standards already found in City of Brush codes, and to establish a mini standard for the potential site and building and to maintain safety and sanitation, the regulations were revisited and brought before council in a work session Monday night, with the intention to keep in mind global regulations that would serve the community as a while. “Once we have global regulations in place, should you chose to go forward,” noted Schminke, “then an applicant of any kind can bring in a specific application to city council to approve such temporary worker housing for any business. Then we would go through notices, public hearings and review the site-specific applications before approving.”The regulations outlined in the newly proposed ordinance include an array of site planning considerations that are either not covered or not comprehensively covered by the state laws and codes, and the categories covered include housing types of skid units, spacing of the units including granting clear access for emergency responders, roads, which must meet city design and construction standards for all-weather travel, water supply to connect with city utilities, fire protection, utilities connections, trash collection standards, animals not permitted unless they are service-related, on-site management and specifics on the way the annual permit and the application itself will read.All also take into account the need to possibly remove and dismantle all from the site in efficient fashion, as the location is set to be temporary. After lengthy discussion, council asked that staff continue to move forward with the proposed ordinance, which will be revisited at an upcoming meeting. 2015 BusinessBusiness wrapped up during the finale session of the Brush City Council, including a second and final reading of Ordinance 839-15, concerning flood damage prevention regulations. This proved the second public hearing concerning the adoption of an update to city floodplain regulations, which remain unchanged since the last set mandated by the state of Colorado, and its adoption with state standards helps the city become eligible for grants and funding. Through the new update, no changes will be felt by single family homeowners. If someone is to build a base single floor, that needs to be built one foot above the base foot elevation. Two significant changes concern commercial structures and include that anyone wishing to build a commercial building on the floodplain must build it at 1 foot above the base elevation.The old standard was to be built at the base elevation. The other change includes a new definition of critical infrastructure. For those types of items that meet that definition, such as city hall, jails, hospitals and any of that type to be built in the floodplain newly constructed, must be built at two feet above base elevation. With the official close of the public hearing by the mayor, with no public comments provided, and upon roll call vote, the ordinance was approved. Also approved was the second and final reading of Ordinance 840-15, approving the leases of five farms owned by the City of Brush for terms of five years. The five farms were purchased years ago by the city to secure water rights and in partnership with COGEN. Recently the city put those lands up for bid, received bids back and were approved upon the roll call vote of yay for the ordinance. The city will continue to pay for water assessments on the farms to make sure it is of clear understanding that the water shares continue to belong to the City of Brush. Also approved was supplemental budget Resolution No. 2015-21, upon a last-minute request from Fire and Police Departments to buy radio sets they received on a discounted rate. According to City Administrator Monty Torres, the request marks the third and final supplemental budget request for the 2015 year. According to councilman Rick Bain, “While we don’t usually like to approve supplemental budgets, the cost savings we realized by purchasing radios early was a really good idea.”Also approved at the meeting were disbursements and payroll from December 14-28 totaling $160,857.17. A City of Brush Planning Commission meeting has been slated for February 1 at 5:30 p.m. where a development application for the Castle Rock property near exit 89 will be considered. Council will hear the same considerations during a February 8 meeting, set for 6 p.m., that will allow public considerations to be voiced. Besides considerations on the marijuana moratorium and temporary worker housing, items up for consideration into the new 2016 year will also include a public hearing on the city’s cable enterprise, the Charter Franchise – which will be continued to the next meeting of the Brush City Council, set for Monday, January 11 at 6 p.m. at the Brush City Hall.

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